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| Age of Information Page
It got me thinking on the cavalier attitude sensed by this generation and younger who have never seen overt legally sanctioned white supremacist signs like these:
The entire civil rights movement and voting rights has now been wiped off the American Planet by the US Supreme Court that will return to a caste-system society in the "democracy and free world". There is a reason for that which is mainly economic, but it is not justice.
With the Zimmerman Trial verdicts, I remain quite other than to show my displeasure on this blog. I am vocal on Facebook which friendships have ended due to mentalities I do not want to manage or negotiate at this time. Some even close friends that I have know since childhood who call me angry because they are ignorant of how Facebook operates.
At any rate, I have posted a series of thoughtful enterprises for all to discuss based on these images.
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Monday, July 29, 2013
RESPECT LEVELS THE PLAYING FIELD & NO WE'RE NOT RESPECTED
Saw this image on a Facebook friend's profile:
Monday, July 15, 2013
EPISODE ALERT: Collapse Zimmerman Trial from a Disney FanGirl POV
Remember, rest is different from collapse. Collapse is rest that has been pushed past its limit.
Exhaustion come from trying to control the uncontrollable.
The recent verdicts regarding the acquittal of George Zimmerman for killing Trayvon Martin cause us in the community service fields and mental health arenas to shudder in pain.
How does one prepare for the mindquakes of others feeling so disenfranchised and lost by a system that hurts and oppresses us?
Not only that, but our crime is being born Black and then Female and our women's rights are being ripped away from us to pursue our happiness in this land of the free and home of the brave. What rights?
And it feels Caucasian insecure bigoted men are making choices for people they can no longer have control.
I am just waiting for the 2 meter wide exhaust port for my Rebel Starship to fly down in a trench run and do the following:
Alas, I am not Princess Leia who appears to keep her resolve when speaking to Grand Moff Tarkin snidely:
The tighter the controls they make on us, the kindling of revolt and rebellion will occur in this country. Will it be violent? I know for the other side, the opposing side, the losing side, it will be. Violence is their operative. Violence is their means. It's about power and control, and the fact they are wielding it, says they are insecure about it. Archaic, outdated, not updated, old, crotchety, asinine and balding people. People who do not wish to embrace a future. People who want the past in their security blankets. People who have past their expiration dates and cannot increase their memory chips of expanded ideas. They're hard limits have brakes on them. Yet, they are the same ones that want the stuff you will try to take from them.
"If you don't want it... Give it back..." ~Tia Dalma - Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest
We have to be more resolute and determine mechanisms to force our minds to wrap around the dysfunction, especially online and social media. Flame Race Wars are going nowhere. We are being torn down by idleness of the distractions beset by social media at this time. The touch psychology is not positive and we are not communicating with one another in an uplifting way.
The mere people exacting this process are the ones who suffer the greatest from this issue. We are allowing touch technology, known that we build a trusting connection and relationship with it psychology to replace our neuropsychiatric biobehavior mechanism to be routed out and disconnected.
What should we do? Logoff.
I already know I can't do it unless I have this...
Your Isle Sanctuary make be different than mine. But you must make a place for yourself, somewhere online to regain your compassion and peace. Other senses can outcompete touch. Like music. But only the right kind. If your music is leaving you more frazzled then it is not the right kind.
Another is conversation - dedicated and intentional conversation. Not distracted. You have to DEVOTE yourself to LISTENING COMPASSIONATELY to especially those around you. If they love to speak to you and you keep blocking them, they will ultimately leave you and regaining that relationship back is what can cause EXHAUSTION!
You can see by the arguments people have against ideas and verdicts that PEOPLE ARE NOT LISTENING ANYMORE!
I feel frustrated when I am not heard. But there is a process to make your concerns known and allow the other individual to desire the right thing by communicating your wants. Your wants must be clear and concise, in a goal for others to follow and a vision everyone can rally.
And that is what a NO social media computer code can program... That is experiential training.
Friday, July 5, 2013
Being A Woman Now in 2013
Women are losing their rights and ground in 10 states:
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Kansas
- Arkansas
- Virginia
- Ohio
- Mississippi
- Oklahoma
- North Carolina
And now, Wisconsin has decided a new ruling for Ultrasound on women who want abortions.
These ultrasounds are to deter them from abortions and continue on with their pregnancy and births. After their births, no one cares. No one gives a shit.
DISCLOSURE: I have NEVER been pregnant. I have NEVER had an abortion. I would not know what this process is like and now, I am TOO OLD to conceive without exorbitant expensive aid - which I can't afford, anyway.
Women who have the inkling to abortion as a choice rarely do not take it lightly. And if it is true, it is BLACK WOMEN who have the highest use of abortion and the sheer number of AFRICAN AMERICAN BABIES BORN merits the fact that abortion does nothing to the population.
And all young people are into having sex. How are African American young women just getting pregnant when their counterparts are not? Is it LACK of contraceptives? No use of condoms? I don't think so. I think that this is an issue of, "TAKES TWO TO TANGO"!
Look at our culture. There will always be girls who put out. Clothing is skimpy. Provocative at a very young age and these boys are taught that "rape culture" is okay - smashing a woman's head into the mud and pounding her into all orifices. Moreover, this is all visible on the internet and the parents do not even know this kind of thing is happening.
Also there a lot of perverts and pedophiles that prey on children doing things they normally would not do. I don't know why I get show offended and hurt when young people curse at me and tell me go to hell when I tell them to slow their provocation and behavior. Sadly, we find later these kids strung out hurting other kids.
These real women HAVE sex and GET pregnant by males who never had an intention to care for her and sells her a bunch of goods he can't quite possibly deliver. If the women doesn't yield to his desires, he'll find some new chick that would. That new chick who has zero self-esteem is the one that gets pregnant. AND THAT IS NOT IF HE TAKES IT BY FORCE!
Males put down women and they learn from other men or outside influences that it is okay to demean women. A bettering of sorts. The use of "Bitch" and Cunt" profanity is the usual.
A woman that has not grown up defending herself against that falls prey to it.
When she gets OLD she is not made saintly, and she is cast aside. Stuffed with the grandkids because it's only what she is good for.
IF she is lucky, she has an education, and can make do to do great things. To stop and break this cycle.
Protesting works. Voting in new forward thinking legislators, works too. But both processes take time, that we do not have. This spiritual depravity we've suffered under is what is hurting us, women.
We don't want to kill our fetuses. I would not want to make the choice of abortion. But if I ever got pregnant, my odds are for a baby with a huge birth defect. I can pray to God to not let that happen to me, but it is highly probable it will. A baby without a skull...
To the "PRO LIFE" - whatever proponents: Can you deal with that? No. So if you're not going to put me back in time with a man that loves me like my husband who I did not meet until I was 33 years old - the only man I want a child with ever on this planet, if you can stop me from suffering from HPV and HSV, or other female issue and then not having a fibroid. Since you cannot send me back in time to stop this, then I think you have ZERO jurisdiction to my decisions that deal with my uterus.
Let's see you deal with rape.
Let's see you deal with an asshole who LIES to you.
GTFOOHWTBS!
Because a man put his penis in woman's vagina and ejaculates his semen into her uterus, does not connote making LOVE. What kind of child is wrought into this world you are trying to conjure into it?
Saturday, June 29, 2013
WARNING TRIGGER: EPISODE ALERT - RACHEL JEANTEL IN THE ZIMMERMAN TRIAL
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| Photograph by Jacob Langston-Pool/Getty |
She testified on Thursday, June 27th and was labeled by social media and by the professional media as Black, Dark Skinned, Belligerent, Ignorant, Ghetto, Stupid, Ugly -- almost every moniker that can debase an human being possible.
The following day, Friday, June 28th, her entire demeanor changed. Social media and professional media felt she was coached, though she said she got some rest. True or not, in my opinion THERE WAS BLATANT STEREOTYPING AND BIGOTRY THAT THIS YOUNG LADY WAS DEALT WITH THAT SHE SHOULD HAVE NOT SUFFERED HAD THE PROSECUTION PLACED HER IN A PROTECTED CLASS!!!
I say they should have declared her to have a disability. A disability is defined by the American with Disabilities Act that is not limited to just physical but also mental by the DSM-VI as incorporated in 2009.
I got cursed out for this. Because further labeling her as "disabled" = "STUPID" by some Black people and White people. There is a stigma associated with the word "disability". BUT IT IS IRRESPONSIBLE AND MALPRACTICE WHEN FORCING ANYONE TO ANSWER A QUESTION THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND FULLY AFTER IT HAS BEEN DECLARED THAT THEY HAVE A KNOWN DISABILITY!!!
IF YOU SAW HOW THE DEFENSE TREATED MISS RACHEL JEANTEL AND THE TORTURE LEVIED UPON HER THAT WAS LEGAL MALPRACTICE! THAT VIOLATED HER CIVIL RIGHTS - in my opinion.
It is the only explanation that can explain her reasoning for not wanting to be there. SHE WAS AFRAID THAT SHE MIGHT LOOK STUPID! And what those bastards did to her, WAS WRONG! Not even a dog is treated the way she was treated... They could have done something to protect her. Which means, someone FAILED HER ON THE FIRST DAY!
On the second day, that got partially rectified. But still YELLING AT HER AND FORCING HER TO READ SOMETHING SHE CANNOT READ (the police officer's report written in cursive handwriting) - SORRY! That just goes to show you KOCH BROTHER'S WHO PAY FOR ZIMMERMAN'S LAWYERS ARE RACIST SHITHEADS!
The jury of Zimmerman's peers, all female, on person of color, probably were put off by Miss Jeantel's demeanor on the first day. But the second day, the "CNN analysts" stated the jurors were more interested and taking notes and trying to grasp the point.
Information is available at our fingertips. Even if sequestered, the jury can view the public opinion in some forms.
Miss Jeantel was a teen that cared for nothing about real-life until Trayvon Martin got killed. So she said things young people say on social media. Exchange all kinds of text messages. That is what young people do and her family probably did not monitor her communications. It is not something that happens in some households.
This is how life is for a lot of people, and when you do not have a CLUE that it existed in AMERICA means you are socially and consciously illiterate.
The main attorney for the Defense is Don West. He is lost because he cannot relate to something he has never seen. Watch Koch Brother's bring in some "kneegrow" lawyer to help out for cultural competency... I say don't do it, because you know what, RACIST AMERICA needs to see the segregation they espouse when they cut education, when they cut foodstamps programs, when they decided not to fund early childhood development. They need to see what poverty will become when they hurt the least of us.
"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'" Matthew 25:40
These are my personal opinions. Some mixed with my professional knowledge.
Dr. G-
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Cyberbullying Among Adult Women in 2010
Cyberbullying growing among adult women
Posted on May 6, 2010 at 11:00 PM
Updated Thursday, May 6 at 11:05 PM
There's been a lot of news about teenage cyberbullies, but it's not just for teens. Experts say it's also growing among adult women - and it too can turn vicious.
Whether it's a chat room or social network, Gina Moore-Sanders practically lives online.
"I get to meet a lot of different people with diverse opinions and I like to have conversations with them," she said.
Recently, Moore-Sanders posted a creative story on an Internet bulletin board. Soon, cyberbullies began taking shots, from snide comments to personal attacks.
"They said expletives, profanity that I was stupid and I was crazy," said Moore-Sanders.
Experts say anytime you are harassed, humiliated or threatened online it's cyberbullying, and teens aren't the only victims.
"I hear about adult women retaliating a lot more and retaliating in really vicious ways, to the point where sites get shut down, people drop off of sites," said Dr. Cheryl Dellasega, author of Mean Girls Grown Up.
She says bullying can be one rude comment, or a string of them.
"The topics that women are cyberbullied about are really endless. It could be a romance. It could be your parenting practices," said Dellasega.
It can even be about physical appearance or family. Romi Lassally startedtruuconfessions.com, an anonymous online confession booth for women. While she sees plenty of positive chit-chat, she also sees the negative.
"We probably see cyberbullying maybe 1 in 10 confessions, maybe 2 in 10 comments. We don't want to post it. We want to offer a judgment free, safe place for women," said Lassally.
So Lassally has the site moderated. She believes part of the reason women bear their claws is insecurity.
"I think the platform invites conversation, but it also invites different opinions," said Lassally. "And if one woman's doing it one way, that just might seem wrong to someone else."
Dellasega says sometimes mean girls grow into mean women, especially when the there's anonymity.
"It's like being behind a mask," said Dellasega. "It offers that sort of anonymous screen for a woman to say some things that she wouldn't normally say."
Moore-Sanders says, even as an adult, the words cut just as deep.
"It made me feel offended and it hurt--a lot," she said.
So, how does one fight back?
"They want you to fire back. The best thing to do is to turn off the computer and walk away," said Dellasega.
And if you want to respond, stop and think before you hit send. That's what Moore-Sanders does when words turn nasty.
"That's when I decide to just not have a discussion anymore," said Gina.
If you know who is bullying you, Dellasega suggests meeting them in person to work things out. That way, you can clarify what was said online and there are no misunderstandings.
For more information:
Monday, March 18, 2013
The Ari | af | ya Universe: Dr. Gina Moore's Social Media Resume
The Ari | af | ya Universe: Dr. Gina Moore's Social Media Resume: Dr. Gina Moore has worked in social media for 10 years. Her resume is impressive. She has had extensive social media content and risk ...
Monday, March 11, 2013
EPISODE ALERT: Deanna Cook
The 9-11 dispatcher's last comment made to her before she was killed by her ex-husband:
Basically, what Dallas said is "fuck a Black woman"...
No one gave a shit about "Deanna Cook". She was not smart, she must have been all "this kinna woman" -- i.e. ghetto hoochie mama to be married to a psycho. And she whined to 9-11 to solve her problems. YUP! //END SARCASM!
All I want to do is destroy the entire lives of everyone involved with this woman seeking help because now she is dead.
The ex-Husband - gone.
The 9-11 dispatchers associated sued or imprisoned.
The police who left a dead body - expelled.
NO ONE GAVE A SHIT ABOUT A DEANNA COOK BECAUSE SHE WAS BLACK! PERIOD!
And I ought not to be shocked.
What if it were me though?
All I can do is try to help you ma'am. It's up to you. You care going to have to. It will be up to you to actually try to do the things that we suggest to you. But if you don't do that than you know police hands are tied.
Basically, what Dallas said is "fuck a Black woman"...
No one gave a shit about "Deanna Cook". She was not smart, she must have been all "this kinna woman" -- i.e. ghetto hoochie mama to be married to a psycho. And she whined to 9-11 to solve her problems. YUP! //END SARCASM!
All I want to do is destroy the entire lives of everyone involved with this woman seeking help because now she is dead.
The ex-Husband - gone.
The 9-11 dispatchers associated sued or imprisoned.
The police who left a dead body - expelled.
NO ONE GAVE A SHIT ABOUT A DEANNA COOK BECAUSE SHE WAS BLACK! PERIOD!
And I ought not to be shocked.
What if it were me though?
Friday, March 8, 2013
WOMEN'S DAY: Oddly enough... Despite everything... I found what makes me happy
If you follow this blog and you have read about me, I have a PhD in molecular genetics. I have done research on genetically modified mice to understand the genetics of cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes and aging. I have published papers on that research. My last research article was published in 2008.
Then due to a lot of things, one causing a disability of the work, I had to leave research. I love science. I love the pursuit of finding the answer. I love a puzzle and then building a story around it. When I am blocked, I am immobilized. This is not what happened. What happened is 1) I may have a seizure disorder that makes me sick, and when stressed it is worse; and 2) I was forced to do something unethical or I would lose my job. I did it and I wound up being laid off anyway. I decided not to pursue action because I was tired of the University of Washington Medical School politics.
But don't get me started.
Anyhow, I said to myself, that if I EVER get the chance to join a trend at its infancy, I was going to pounce on it as enjoy myself.
Well, I have...
I found Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. I can do some minor coding, nothing extensive. But my content management is awesome. I can say some wild stuff. I get into "debates" and sometimes all out arguments on all kinds of things.
I don't hunt down individuals because that is called "cyberbullying" despite what my haters would say. Oh yes, according to them, I am one. I could see, if I posted, everyday with all my friends to purposely bash them and make them feel humiliated and idiotic everyday, but that is actually a waste of my time. Why take down a troll when blocking or banning them is so easy?
Moreover, there are rules that one can develop when "your own page" or "your turf" is being attacked on social media... (Irony: it's the social media proprietor's turf anyway).
- You can have a "3 strikes and you are out" rule - troll 3 times = ban/block
- You can talk to them to see how the issue can be resolved = that doesn't work with the unmedicated psychos.
- You can ignore it, but on social media it festers fast, so the amount of ignoring will be hard.
- You can impose a "One strike" rule - Say something incendiary, i.e. racist slur, etc; or personal information and you go full throttle with ban, report, delete... If on Twitter, no recourse but to ban. If a blog is written, first ask for removal, then if refused, go higher up...if it means law enforcement, it means that.
Social media is about exchanging ideas and sometimes there will be disagreements. These "debates" can get heated like and Bill O'Reilly freakout. Point is, once it goes personal and there are disparaging remarks that are overall defamation of your character, then it is no longer a debate. It has now become a slug fest.
Believe it or not, this happens to women all the time on social media, such as the case of Anita Sarkeesian and her feminist studies on how women are portrayed in videogames. So when you state a strong belief or idea, and it encounters a barrage of attacks that are personal or group blocking you based on lies, know this is the standard right now on how women who use social media are treated.
Supermodels are treated similarly. Case after case. "Men" are violently bashing women, all over the world.
With the vary nature of "violence" against women changing due to technology, i.e. deranged men (opposed to normal men like my husband) have advanced the use of technology to keep tabs on the objects of their obsession -- i.e. women to find ways to take power and control over them. If that means using the scare tactics of "drone strikes in their beds" - they will do that.
From an Afrikan Centered point of view - which is the path of the Ariafya - waning age of supremacy is causing some White males to literally become psychotic with narcissistic borderline personality disorder. Psychosis usually causes violence acts, somewhat animalistic without warning. The placating or soothing the savage beast by the sexualized women has ended. Many Caucasian women have started to find their voice and scream, "NO!". While many women of color, stand by the sidelines counting the dead bodies of men of color at the hands of their men...
That does not mean violence is condoned. It just means the origins of how this kind of destruction is happening. Unfortunately, it will continues. Moreover, some men of color will take up the assault guns and assault women, first women of color with impunity, and then Caucasian women hoping their lynchings will not hurt.
In the end, life will go on. Women will rule this world, like it or not. The way to do it is, keep at the social media and keep saying what needs to be said.
Women can disagree on progress, but what we will all agree up on is revolutionizing the systems that have been built.
Nameste
Monday, March 4, 2013
Moving on for Happiness Sake. How to do?
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| Miriam Makeba - Mama Africa - 81st Birthday |
One of the HARDEST things for me to do is "MOVE ON". I use to think of it as quitting or being a quitter. I use to see it as giving up on people who relied on me. I use to rate my success on others happiness. That my own internal happiness with myself was not worth that much, so if I make others happy as a form of community service for the rent we pay on Earth, then perhaps people will see me as a good person and like me. Afterall, making others happy, will make yourself happy... Right?
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| BULLSHIT!!! |
Just like fitness and eating healthy helps with dealing with personal happiness, so is the TALK THERAPY by a professionally licensed trained provider OR a mental health peer support specialist (which I am) seems to help. Of course this does include action planning. What is the "short term" goals and how will you get there? What is your confidence from a scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest? So on and so forth. With a licensed provider, you will get the "glitch pathology" work through -- that is what they go to school for and get the licenses for. With a coach or a peer support specialist, you will just get the worksheet and maybe a few suggestions.
ULTIMATELY - it's your health and you have to work through it for what is best for you by defining your goals. First thing is, context - what does happiness LOOK LIKE for you? And KNOW that it is a work of art, always needing some refinement and you might not get to the final product of how you see it. It's more about the journey -- how you're going to and getting there. You can't read this, it's your own story you are writing and you are learning on the job. There is no manual. And guess what, you have to put your own mask on for oxygen to flow before helping others...
But moving on... Where to just give it ALL UP... Several of my blogs here talk about that... After recent political events, such as the sequester:
People are upset because they feel like they're holding on by a thread and have to give up EVERYTHING in their lives because "walking away" is quitting and giving up. Think of the perspective of our veterans. They fought for this country, they get ZERO disability benefits - PROMISED TO THEM and are having several psychiatric health issues with combat flashbacks. The disability benefits would help them get the care they need, but it takes 50-eleventy years to get it -- after they've come off combat deployment with discharge? WTF??? Uh...What?
But, unfortunately, they have to MOVE ON from the mind-fuck that happened to them and do something with their lives now.
MOVING ON - what does that mean really? I ain't gonna lie... I means giving up, quitting and letting go of the bullshit. Then it means picking up whatever pieces you got left, even if it is nothing and as a survival skill, leaving and trusting that the Universe will understand.
Sometimes, it means, doing your job despite not getting paid for it. Standing for something, even if you will get arrested for it. Being mean to people who love you but are not positive influences on your life. It means, not only are you fucking over them, and you might be fucking over yourself, but in the "END GAME" it means that this fucked up situation is temporary and MOVING ON TO A DIFFERENT LIFE is a CHOICE you made for your own perpetual HAPPINESS!
MOVING ON = SPRING HOUSE CLEANING!
I ain't gonna say it won't hurt. You will have withdrawal symptoms of what once was. Your love of your life will beg to come back in to it, but...
MOVING ON - once you make that decision you don't turn back. So it should happen in your life.
The issue is, it is about you CHOOSING to move on versus be FORCED to move on...
Forced moving on is worse, because you can't control the day to day operations. I.e. House fell into a sinkhole, loved one got shot and killed, you had a heart attack, etc.
Life is unpredictable.
But you can trust yourself to make the best decisions in your life to attain your happiness for yourself. And if all the bad forced moves happen anyway, then at least you were doing what made you happy...
What if what makes you happy is doing meth?
That's another blog...
Moving on looks like this:
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
THEY ARE STILL OUR SLAVES
The origins started at least by 2002. Then iterations traveled across the web and are on youtube. I already know no one reads, by no one reading my blog. I get no comments or questions. Only spammers respond trying to sell me a diet pill. My like numbers are low because I'm not an active blogger on this site. On another site, I am. So at any rate, this statements below are now "urban legend" to motivate us to do more.
The following letter was read on a local radio hip hop/ r&b radio station. It is a letter supposedly from a white person that has been in circulation. Check it out. Some of the people that called to the show actually agreed with it (even though they were blacks). Is there some truth to this, or is it better to dismiss it. It certainly has got me thinking.
BLACKS DON'T READ
THEY ARE STILL OUR SLAVES We can continue to reap profits from the Blacks without the effort of physical slavery. Look at the current methods of containment that they use on themselves: IGNORANCE, GREED, and SELFISHNESS.
Their IGNORANCE is the primary weapon of containment. A great man once said, "The best way to hide something from Black people is to put it in a book." We live now in the Information Age. They have gained the opportunity to read any book on any subject through the efforts of their fight for freedom, yet they refuse to read. There are numerous books readily available at Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.com, not to mention their own Black Bookstores that provide solid blueprints to reach economic equality (which should have been their fight all along), but few read consistently, if at all.
GREED is another powerful weapon of containment. Blacks, since the abolition of slavery, have had large amounts of money at their disposal. Last year they spent 10 billion dollars during Christmas, out of their 450 billion dollars in total yearly income (2.22%). Any of us can use them as our target market, for any business venture we care to dream up, no matter how outlandish, they will buy into it. Being primarily a consumer people, they function totally by greed. They continually want more, with little thought for saving or investing. They would rather buy some new sneaker than invest in starting a business.
Some even neglect their children to have the latest Tommy or FUBU. And they still think that having a Mercedes, and a big house gives the "Status" or that they have achieved the American Dream. They are fools! The vast majority of their people are still in poverty because their greed holds them back from collectively making better communities. With the help of BET, and the rest of their Black media that often broadcasts destructive images into their own homes, we will continue to see huge profits like those of Tommy and Nike. (Tommy Hilfiger has even jeered them, saying he doesn't want their money, and look at how the fools spend more with him than ever before!). They'll continue to show off to each other while we build solid communities with the profits from our businesses that we market to them.
SELFISHNESS, ingrained in their minds through slavery, is one of the major ways we can continue to contain them. One of their own, W. E. B. Dubois said that there was an innate division in their culture. A "Talented Tenth" he called it. He was correct in his deduction that there are segments of their culture that has achieved some "form" of success. However, that segment missed the fullness of his work. They didn't read that the "Talented Tenth" was then responsible to aid the Non-Talented Ninety Percent in achieving a better life. Instead, that segment has created another class, a Buppie class that looks down on their people or aids them in a condescending manner. They will never achieve what we have. Their selfishness does not allow them to be able to work together on any project or endeavor of substance. When they do get together, their selfishness lets their egos get in the way of the goal. Their so-called help organizations seem to only want to promote their name without making any real change in their community. They are content to sit in conferences and conventions in our hotels, and talk about what they will do, while they award plaques to the best speakers, not the best doers. Is there no end to their selfishness?
They steadfastly refuse to see that "TOGETHER EACH ACHIEVES MORE (TEAM)!" They do not understand that they are no better than each other because of what they own. In fact, most of those Buppies are but one or two paychecks away from poverty. All of which is under the control of our pens in our offices and our boardrooms.
Yes, we will continue to contain them as long as they refuse to read, continue to buy anything they want, and keep thinking they are "helping" their communities by paying dues to organizations which do little other than hold lavish conventions in our hotels. By the way, don't worry about any of them reading this letter, remember, 'THEY DON'T READ!!!!'
(Prove them wrong. Please pass this on!)
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Guns and Mental Health
No this is not about Adam Lanza, Holmes or Loughner. This blog is about me, someone with a manic-depressive illness diagnosis. I am considered mentally ill, and I know how to shoot a gun.
I have shot a 22 and a Glock. I shot a small rifle and my dad wanted me to shoot his Winchester Rifle, but the kickback is too strong.
At any rate, I went shooting with my husband and brother-in-law who is a former police officer. I realized my eyes could not focus on a bright orange target from 10 feet away. Realizing after that, I visited my physician and he flatly asked me if I wanted glasses to see, and my eyes had 20/20 vision. But he sent me to a specialist that did find anything wrong except my optic nerve. So then I visited the neurologist who examined me after my MRI - two of them in fact - and said my optic nerve had a "kink" in it, and there was nothing I could do about it.
But the powerful use of guns is not a way to solve any issues. At least I know as a "mentally ill" person, that guns can only protect so much.
For mass shootings, bashing mentally ill will not stop this problem. Watching out for "lone wolves" is not going to work, and restricting guns will fail, too.
What stops shootings at schools are physical barriers with a well defined parameter. But do we want any "barriers" at schools?
I think perhaps having technology and innovation to help us, might prove beneficial.
Why aren't assault rifles "chipped"? Everything else has an RFID, why aren't all assault rifles have smart technology that controls the ability to fire it within city limits difficult without proper permits?
The comedian, Chris Rock, asked why can't the gun permits to be just as difficult as a mortgage in escrow? I do not think criminals care about permits.
But we have chips on everything we do, like our smartphones that you might even be using to read this...
The guns won't work in the city and once you go out hunt feral animals, well... Isn't that what we use assault rifles in the country for?
And then why are we continually forcing our children to go to a brick and mortar type school when they are learning on the computer anyway? WTH? We can put a computer and upgrade them for the lives of our children. The social interactivity can occur by experiential learning and independent study plan.
But I'm mentally ill, who would listen to me.
I have shot a 22 and a Glock. I shot a small rifle and my dad wanted me to shoot his Winchester Rifle, but the kickback is too strong.
At any rate, I went shooting with my husband and brother-in-law who is a former police officer. I realized my eyes could not focus on a bright orange target from 10 feet away. Realizing after that, I visited my physician and he flatly asked me if I wanted glasses to see, and my eyes had 20/20 vision. But he sent me to a specialist that did find anything wrong except my optic nerve. So then I visited the neurologist who examined me after my MRI - two of them in fact - and said my optic nerve had a "kink" in it, and there was nothing I could do about it.
But the powerful use of guns is not a way to solve any issues. At least I know as a "mentally ill" person, that guns can only protect so much.
For mass shootings, bashing mentally ill will not stop this problem. Watching out for "lone wolves" is not going to work, and restricting guns will fail, too.
What stops shootings at schools are physical barriers with a well defined parameter. But do we want any "barriers" at schools?
I think perhaps having technology and innovation to help us, might prove beneficial.
Why aren't assault rifles "chipped"? Everything else has an RFID, why aren't all assault rifles have smart technology that controls the ability to fire it within city limits difficult without proper permits?
The comedian, Chris Rock, asked why can't the gun permits to be just as difficult as a mortgage in escrow? I do not think criminals care about permits.
But we have chips on everything we do, like our smartphones that you might even be using to read this...
The guns won't work in the city and once you go out hunt feral animals, well... Isn't that what we use assault rifles in the country for?
And then why are we continually forcing our children to go to a brick and mortar type school when they are learning on the computer anyway? WTH? We can put a computer and upgrade them for the lives of our children. The social interactivity can occur by experiential learning and independent study plan.
But I'm mentally ill, who would listen to me.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Newsweek article: American Women Have It Wrong
Comment on the Newsweek article: American Women Have It Wrong
In context, she was discussing biology that is unchanging and money cannot be thrown at it. But the mere statement is saying, on the one hand, we women who have bear children do it alone, and on the other hand, "government regulation" and "corporate policy". What about the law? Some women who are "doing it alone" are not doing it by choice...
Because in her next series of discussions, Debora Spar states, that women need to make a choice because we cannot do it all. "No human can do this..." Sure, this is true... But that is still a culturally insensitive statement when having to do it all must be done if we are talking about survival. Yes, something will give. But discounting hope? Are you willing to sacrifice your household for others? No, you will not. Bluntly, what you just said there --"making a choice to have children, career, etc" is disempowering to women, because a lot of women had no choice, i.e. the man raped her...Refusal to receive proper reproductive choices...job biases. These are legal ramifications that yes, a government CAN most definitely regulate and corporations can most give policy on.
In context, Debora Spar speaks on the feeling of it all crashing around you. I think a lot of women, who aspire to be something great go through this, often. Many fail. But appearances are a political fights. There are women that are profiled and discriminated against daily. Just ask a Muslim woman in the United States wearing an Abaya and Niqab... Or a Black Woman choosing to wear dreads vs chemically straightened hair? Or a Latina or Vietnamese woman who speaks limited English? The more astute women attempt to appear more Caucasian to get by in daily life, than to maintain their cultural customs of appearance. Our cries to "sell ourselves short" be it conscious or not, still is not a fear of failure or discovery of a failure, but more like battle wounds for our diverse communities!
Lovely statement "Dr. Mary Sue" -- really had me going there. I almost bought it until you said "rural schools for girls in Africa"...
American women have it wrong because in your purview, Dr. Mary Sue, your world is enraptured outward versus looking inward. I think you tried to feel the cause of struggle and you rode on your accomplishments of being a professor for scores and President of a liberal arts college. Beautiful thing by the way. But your disconnect with your pollyannish views that women have husbands that work daily to help you and all you have to worry about is having to read the books versus speaking to sources is not what works for a lot of women. You totally missed lesbian couples who want children!
I am sorry, until all women, especially in the United States, have control over their own destinies including their bodies, especially reproductive health, then choices are being MADE FOR THEM! NOT MAKING THEIR OWN CHOICE!
I know you've written every economic book and your research is stellar, but add the layer of bigotry to your statistics, and I think all your insights will shift. The Government has published several articles on understanding health disparities and their economic impacts.
Therefore, Sistah Mental Health and Wellness has to find your point of view MARY SUE!
From the outset of this image, as a diverse woman of African descent, I found this Newsweek article interesting, yet derisive.
Another rant of a "Dr. Mary Sue" - a mainstream woman, with the car, the career, the family, the husband, the everything that is not applicable to diverse women at all. If she knew a day in the life, she would not be so cold in her comments.
That women experience pregnancy and childbirth in a deeply physical way. Women are the ones who carry the child for nine months, and whose bodies leap instantly after labor to sustain that child through the first critical months of life. These are physiological aspects of mothering that defy government regulation and corporate policy. And they are not going away.
In context, she was discussing biology that is unchanging and money cannot be thrown at it. But the mere statement is saying, on the one hand, we women who have bear children do it alone, and on the other hand, "government regulation" and "corporate policy". What about the law? Some women who are "doing it alone" are not doing it by choice...
Because in her next series of discussions, Debora Spar states, that women need to make a choice because we cannot do it all. "No human can do this..." Sure, this is true... But that is still a culturally insensitive statement when having to do it all must be done if we are talking about survival. Yes, something will give. But discounting hope? Are you willing to sacrifice your household for others? No, you will not. Bluntly, what you just said there --"making a choice to have children, career, etc" is disempowering to women, because a lot of women had no choice, i.e. the man raped her...Refusal to receive proper reproductive choices...job biases. These are legal ramifications that yes, a government CAN most definitely regulate and corporations can most give policy on.
Girls need to have all their grandmothers wanted them to have, while looking as pretty as their mothers wanted them to look...You try so hard to be who everyone wants you to be while attempting to maintain some kind of individuality and in the end you seem to lose everything.
...Making a world better for women also demands that women work together...You see the woman who was here before you? Why don't you track her down, and try to work together.
Lovely statement "Dr. Mary Sue" -- really had me going there. I almost bought it until you said "rural schools for girls in Africa"...
American women have it wrong because in your purview, Dr. Mary Sue, your world is enraptured outward versus looking inward. I think you tried to feel the cause of struggle and you rode on your accomplishments of being a professor for scores and President of a liberal arts college. Beautiful thing by the way. But your disconnect with your pollyannish views that women have husbands that work daily to help you and all you have to worry about is having to read the books versus speaking to sources is not what works for a lot of women. You totally missed lesbian couples who want children!
I am sorry, until all women, especially in the United States, have control over their own destinies including their bodies, especially reproductive health, then choices are being MADE FOR THEM! NOT MAKING THEIR OWN CHOICE!
I know you've written every economic book and your research is stellar, but add the layer of bigotry to your statistics, and I think all your insights will shift. The Government has published several articles on understanding health disparities and their economic impacts.
Therefore, Sistah Mental Health and Wellness has to find your point of view MARY SUE!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Gravy and Grits, Etiquette and Protocol for Social Media
At Sistah Mental Health and Wellness, I have been open about my issues with bipolar and managing my condition with my healthcare providers and my prescribed medications. It has not been easy and some of my issues stem from being female - possible perimenopausal symptoms.
But now it is time for me to re-enter the workforce after a nearly 4.5 year hiatus, 3 of them dedicated to not looking at all due to frustrations of sending my resume into the abyss; and just a desire to get back to a healthier outlook on life, versus one fraught with unreal ideations. Truthfully, I found my passion and social media helped me get there. I have been having so much fun, even with a lot of tears, setting up what I do in social media - social media entertainment and performance. I lose track of time when I am in cyberspace, and I am quite productive! I don't play "Farmville" or whatever flavor of game spinning my wheels, I am reading Mashable or researching new ways for businesses to deliver social media to the public and audience. I take webinars online from Facebook on market strategies, and watch videos on Youtube, and more reading. That is what I do.
I have found that businesses are scrambling to see the next big social media bang. First it was "Myspace" - that degenerated - I was not on there long enough to really see what happened, but what I heard is they had no controls or class, cyberattacks were rampant and businesses did not want to be associated with that. Then really, Facebook that did not really start their "Page" productions until ~2008, and it has evolved since. I like how pages are formatted for business, though I see all crazy kinds of pages with more than 10,000 LIKES, businesses that have well-integrated social media, fair quite well. Moreover, there are filters and controls that administrators can employ to effectively message to their demographic.
Lastly, there is Twitter, which had little controls on bad behavior, and in some ways they still do, but businesses are using Twitter as a customer service control stopgap system that can address the needs of their customers.
All of this to say is some people, especially the socially anxious, do not know customer service, the business they are working for and how it impacts the outreach of their clients. When I encounter belligerent customer service personnel, I will report them to the Better Business Bureau. It means customer service personnel did not take the time to understand the needs of the customer to best deliver the most effective product line to maximize the positive experiences of the customer. I was recently treated that way with "GoDaddy" and I have reported them.
Which led me to understanding the purchasing of several domain names which I have with GoDaddy. The advent of social media portals on mainline sites, like Facebook, Twitter and Google+, why have a website? Why do I need a personalized domain name specific to an independent website, getting it hosted somewhere, upgrades are costly and infrequent, and outreach is limited when selling a major product is not what I do? Why have all these items when it is easier to just make a page, link it to a Twitter account, and Google+ it to a blog that is "free". I am a small business, so every cent counts. My business requires a personalized positive experience which is exactly what social media is!
The problem lies with expansion of outreach, meaning providing multimedia services to an expanding audience, i.e. podcasts and Youtubes. Podcasts have to be hosted on a separate server, doing that costs money, but the audience likes the radio and hearing information. Whereas, Youtubes are visual cues and short ~30 second commercials are shared and enjoyed by millions. Both have a labor cost associated with them, and both require some level of programming support.
As usual, the young people know all these things and find unique ways to manage these efforts. For some us oldbies, we just did not know the possibilities.
So to jobs...
No one is going to GIVE ME a job. I am too old. Gone are the days where you walk into a business and submit your resume, they review it and give you an interview. Those kinds of jobs are not jobs commensurate with my education and do not pay the price I am worth. I am not working for McDonald's like I did as a teenager. I am not a beggar and I worked hard in school to have a choice. My choice is to work on MY BUSINESS so I can hire people to do jobs I need to be done.
My business, social media entertainment and performance in content management. What you put out there in the Twitterverse does come back. Businesses need a social media strategy to implement on how they want to be present and individuals that manage customer service relations in a socially conscious and a "hodegos" way. It is like a party, one does not treat their guests to a party inappropriately, uncouth without etiquette. But one also knows that many people who use social media are social anxious and do not know how to express themselves appropriately and that translates into the work environment for bad behavior. How much is it worth to you as a business for your bottomline to have inappropriate behavior due to poor etiquette and protocol? Or a complete ignorance of social and cultural understanding in this world of people?
I think even small businesses can benefit building a social media strategy based on etiquette and protocol, social and cultural understanding -- essentially what a hodegos does. And I have highly trained in those efforts through my community service resume for over 20 years... I have organized and implemented outreach programs to diverse communities, implements large events, managed parent programs and I have recapitulated in my professional life as a scientist.
Bringing together diverse people is what geeks me out the most in my life and social media fits nicely in doing that. It is my "Joyeux de vive", my muse, my everything I find life to be. It makes me happy. So often in life, people cannot find their "happiness", but I did and I am having the time of my life doing it.
To make me go back into the drudgery of hoping someone gives me a job is asking me to die. Yes, I would love some payment for what I do. Why? For the amount of work I put into what I do, remuneration is deserved, but payment can be bartering, service for service or like purchasing "BlogTalkRadio" time for the year, or Facebook ads for my services, or cutting and editing my podcasts, or finding actors for my performances or writers to review my scripts. Or administrators for my 400 odd Facebook pages that will not be stolen from me.
What I do is not easy and I dedicate 20 hours building per day. No one will give you that level of intensity online. It is not what they do for projects. Besides, for those who help me, I really should pay them something, but I to hire an employment lawyer who explain how I can do this legally. That is why I am asking for remuneration.
What the audience sees in the end is the "gravy and grits"...
And I now have proof what I do, works.
Visit me --
http://www.facebook.com/IGOTSWAG77
http://www.facebook.com/SWAG77Podcast
https://www.facebook.com/pages/STAR-WARS-Rising-Force-Rebellious-Seed/349085901787433
I have found that businesses are scrambling to see the next big social media bang. First it was "Myspace" - that degenerated - I was not on there long enough to really see what happened, but what I heard is they had no controls or class, cyberattacks were rampant and businesses did not want to be associated with that. Then really, Facebook that did not really start their "Page" productions until ~2008, and it has evolved since. I like how pages are formatted for business, though I see all crazy kinds of pages with more than 10,000 LIKES, businesses that have well-integrated social media, fair quite well. Moreover, there are filters and controls that administrators can employ to effectively message to their demographic.
Lastly, there is Twitter, which had little controls on bad behavior, and in some ways they still do, but businesses are using Twitter as a customer service control stopgap system that can address the needs of their customers.
Which led me to understanding the purchasing of several domain names which I have with GoDaddy. The advent of social media portals on mainline sites, like Facebook, Twitter and Google+, why have a website? Why do I need a personalized domain name specific to an independent website, getting it hosted somewhere, upgrades are costly and infrequent, and outreach is limited when selling a major product is not what I do? Why have all these items when it is easier to just make a page, link it to a Twitter account, and Google+ it to a blog that is "free". I am a small business, so every cent counts. My business requires a personalized positive experience which is exactly what social media is!
The problem lies with expansion of outreach, meaning providing multimedia services to an expanding audience, i.e. podcasts and Youtubes. Podcasts have to be hosted on a separate server, doing that costs money, but the audience likes the radio and hearing information. Whereas, Youtubes are visual cues and short ~30 second commercials are shared and enjoyed by millions. Both have a labor cost associated with them, and both require some level of programming support.
As usual, the young people know all these things and find unique ways to manage these efforts. For some us oldbies, we just did not know the possibilities.
So to jobs...
No one is going to GIVE ME a job. I am too old. Gone are the days where you walk into a business and submit your resume, they review it and give you an interview. Those kinds of jobs are not jobs commensurate with my education and do not pay the price I am worth. I am not working for McDonald's like I did as a teenager. I am not a beggar and I worked hard in school to have a choice. My choice is to work on MY BUSINESS so I can hire people to do jobs I need to be done.
My business, social media entertainment and performance in content management. What you put out there in the Twitterverse does come back. Businesses need a social media strategy to implement on how they want to be present and individuals that manage customer service relations in a socially conscious and a "hodegos" way. It is like a party, one does not treat their guests to a party inappropriately, uncouth without etiquette. But one also knows that many people who use social media are social anxious and do not know how to express themselves appropriately and that translates into the work environment for bad behavior. How much is it worth to you as a business for your bottomline to have inappropriate behavior due to poor etiquette and protocol? Or a complete ignorance of social and cultural understanding in this world of people?
I think even small businesses can benefit building a social media strategy based on etiquette and protocol, social and cultural understanding -- essentially what a hodegos does. And I have highly trained in those efforts through my community service resume for over 20 years... I have organized and implemented outreach programs to diverse communities, implements large events, managed parent programs and I have recapitulated in my professional life as a scientist.
Bringing together diverse people is what geeks me out the most in my life and social media fits nicely in doing that. It is my "Joyeux de vive", my muse, my everything I find life to be. It makes me happy. So often in life, people cannot find their "happiness", but I did and I am having the time of my life doing it.
To make me go back into the drudgery of hoping someone gives me a job is asking me to die. Yes, I would love some payment for what I do. Why? For the amount of work I put into what I do, remuneration is deserved, but payment can be bartering, service for service or like purchasing "BlogTalkRadio" time for the year, or Facebook ads for my services, or cutting and editing my podcasts, or finding actors for my performances or writers to review my scripts. Or administrators for my 400 odd Facebook pages that will not be stolen from me.
What I do is not easy and I dedicate 20 hours building per day. No one will give you that level of intensity online. It is not what they do for projects. Besides, for those who help me, I really should pay them something, but I to hire an employment lawyer who explain how I can do this legally. That is why I am asking for remuneration.
What the audience sees in the end is the "gravy and grits"...
And I now have proof what I do, works.
Visit me --
http://www.facebook.com/IGOTSWAG77
http://www.facebook.com/SWAG77Podcast
https://www.facebook.com/pages/STAR-WARS-Rising-Force-Rebellious-Seed/349085901787433
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Anything but...
Reporting to a Nevada news outlet, Ann Romney, wife of Mitt Romney, Republican Presidential candidate, reports that she is concerned about her husband's mental well-being...
That is fine and dandy, but this is the office of the Presidency of the United States. The job is inherently stressful and is hazardous. It is hard as she said. And while they may believe they are doing what is best for the country, having a serious mental health condition is NOT easy to handle for such a powerful position. Can he do the job from the surface of things?
I don't know. I am voting for Obama anyway. So typically I don't care.
But as a person who deals with my own mental health issues and is interested in helping others find resources in managing their mental health issues and promoting health and wellness, especially in diverse women, the issue I have seen is already:
The STIGMA OF MENTAL ILLNESS IS ALIVE AND WELL!
Now that Mitt has "come out of the closet" and whether they were attempting to appeal to people or not, they did not account for the US ignorances on mental health care in this country...
People are IGNORANT!
Let me be more blunt, I am an African American woman, in my 40's who is dealing with bipolar disorder that may have been caused by a chemical imbalance related to having a predisposition in diabetes...
I would rather be lynched by the Klu Klux Klan and killed, than to tell people I am dealing with bipolar disorder and getting professional treatment for it.
This is one of the hardest things to divulge to others when looking for work, because really, I have a disability. I was born with my issue. It is a birth defect in my brain. It only shows itself when I am under duress and am confused. I cannot do everything evenly. That is why my potential is limited. That is why my dreams are deferred. What makes it worse is, I achieved so much in my life and I just cannot do it anymore because I am scared of the stress it will cause me and me having one of those days.
Sad part, Romney is going to hit his bottom for this divulged secret and he is going to have to dig himself out if it.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Star Wars Celebration 6 Issues - The Point Was?
On September 5, 2012 WPLG Miami Local 10 News posted on their website incendiary comments of costumed players, called cosplayers, at the Orlando, Florida event called, Star Wars Celebration VI.
Those comments incensed the Star Wars fan community, because it berated several major Star Wars costuming groups that attend charity events as like, "Darth Vader". It makes the kids happy!
Of the key groups targeted were:
501st Legion
Rebel Legion
The Dark Empire
Mandalorian Mercs Costuming Club
And countless other persons who have a hobby as dressing up like Darth Vader, pretending you are like him and posing for pictures with the kids.
Some people spend a lot of money on their costumes and while that money can go toward community service programs, doing cosplay is some people's hobby. In fact, it is some people's way of life.
At the convention, there are seminars or panels on a variety of topics related to Star Wars fandom. The popular ones involve the major actor appearances and premiere showings of movies or television shows. The lines are long for those and one must stand hours on end to attend said events, unless there are advanced ticket sales, which usually can sell out.
But there are other panels that include: Writing, Filming, Collecting and Prop making. Sometimes, there is insider access to the nuts and bolts of the movie industry itself. There may be one on one interaction and dialogue with the presenter.
I had a fan table and with the help of my wonderful husband, I was able to attend a few of these "other panels". I attended the "hot events" - one event I came to late and could not get in. But better luck next time.
As fan table, I handed out SWAG77 Maul Squares that has our information on the back in a QR Code.
I had a television connected to my computer and I used a wireless hotspot (kinna recommend not doing that again). We showed our activities on Facebook and Twitter. I even had a "MIC" that could record my voice for later podcasts. But there was more I needed done.
I had a "costume" if you call it that, but for mobility reasons, I chose to wear it one day. As my costume, I had a helmet! It was a lovely helmet. I paid a lot of money to get and have it painted. Even the director of the television show liked my helmet. Even Seth Green, the actor and producer of Robot Chicken, took a picture of my helmet.
My geekitude levels were high ever since.
Then, roughly a week after the event, I see fellow cosplayers photographed and propped up on a website with condescending messages, such as, "Dateless men", "hairy women" and "Luke Skyywalker" in reference to Luther Campbell the rap artist. This came from a Miami
The backlash by the Star Wars community was immediate. Then it got me wondering, what WPLG Local 10 did is a part of cultural disequilibrium. Unfortunately, the reporters they sent up to Star Wars Celebration 6 failed to understand the cultural impact of what going to a convention or "Cons" means to attendees.
While my first time attending a Star Wars Con, I had attended a few cons before, I actually attended San Diego ComicCon like BACK IN THE DAY in like 1984 at Scottish Rite. But that just shows my nerdiness as a kid when my parents had no clue I really liked that stuff. I am a recent convert who has embraced my inner geek and relished in it. Sad part is, I get from both sides, again.
GEEZ! That means I need to write this, Channeling Princess Leia thing.
But this does not give the reporters a pass on their actions. However, it does help me understand their issues with Star Wars Celebration. Even my own family was like, "WHOA" with all the amazing costumes! But in a larger society, many different communities do not really understand the "nerdy-geeky". Sadly, to them, there are only REAL WORLD issues that can never be solved in a fantasy, fictional society. That the amount of money spent on a costume could have helped someone debilitated.
I say to that, the creative mind is our strongest weapon against society's ills. To dream a big dream is what drives up to go to the stars and change lives. Sometimes all a sick child has are his or her superheros cheering them on...
Who are we to judge what hobbies people have when it does not hurt anyone? There are fans who go to football and basketball games. Fans that attend concerts to see their favorite artists. And there are fans who like movies, such as Star Wars in particular, that want to delve deep into the Force and find another way to their life some happiness.
Whatever the reason for people's geekdom, it is still tapping into the creative mind, and when others judge that, it devalues us individually and our humanity.
There are times for most things and sometimes, being creative is not always the answer. Sometimes we do have to "grow up" and be analytical. And as a scientist with a Ph.D. in molecular genetics with published papers in cardiology, diabetes, aging, and cancer, I know the precision required to move in a thought process.
And then, there sometimes, I want to dance and express myself, gleefully on what brought me joy as a child.
Those comments incensed the Star Wars fan community, because it berated several major Star Wars costuming groups that attend charity events as like, "Darth Vader". It makes the kids happy!
Of the key groups targeted were:
501st Legion
Rebel Legion
The Dark Empire
Mandalorian Mercs Costuming Club
And countless other persons who have a hobby as dressing up like Darth Vader, pretending you are like him and posing for pictures with the kids.
Some people spend a lot of money on their costumes and while that money can go toward community service programs, doing cosplay is some people's hobby. In fact, it is some people's way of life.
At the convention, there are seminars or panels on a variety of topics related to Star Wars fandom. The popular ones involve the major actor appearances and premiere showings of movies or television shows. The lines are long for those and one must stand hours on end to attend said events, unless there are advanced ticket sales, which usually can sell out.
But there are other panels that include: Writing, Filming, Collecting and Prop making. Sometimes, there is insider access to the nuts and bolts of the movie industry itself. There may be one on one interaction and dialogue with the presenter.
I had a fan table and with the help of my wonderful husband, I was able to attend a few of these "other panels". I attended the "hot events" - one event I came to late and could not get in. But better luck next time.
As fan table, I handed out SWAG77 Maul Squares that has our information on the back in a QR Code.
I had a television connected to my computer and I used a wireless hotspot (kinna recommend not doing that again). We showed our activities on Facebook and Twitter. I even had a "MIC" that could record my voice for later podcasts. But there was more I needed done.
I had a "costume" if you call it that, but for mobility reasons, I chose to wear it one day. As my costume, I had a helmet! It was a lovely helmet. I paid a lot of money to get and have it painted. Even the director of the television show liked my helmet. Even Seth Green, the actor and producer of Robot Chicken, took a picture of my helmet.
My geekitude levels were high ever since.
Then, roughly a week after the event, I see fellow cosplayers photographed and propped up on a website with condescending messages, such as, "Dateless men", "hairy women" and "Luke Skyywalker" in reference to Luther Campbell the rap artist. This came from a Miami
The backlash by the Star Wars community was immediate. Then it got me wondering, what WPLG Local 10 did is a part of cultural disequilibrium. Unfortunately, the reporters they sent up to Star Wars Celebration 6 failed to understand the cultural impact of what going to a convention or "Cons" means to attendees.
While my first time attending a Star Wars Con, I had attended a few cons before, I actually attended San Diego ComicCon like BACK IN THE DAY in like 1984 at Scottish Rite. But that just shows my nerdiness as a kid when my parents had no clue I really liked that stuff. I am a recent convert who has embraced my inner geek and relished in it. Sad part is, I get from both sides, again.
GEEZ! That means I need to write this, Channeling Princess Leia thing.
But this does not give the reporters a pass on their actions. However, it does help me understand their issues with Star Wars Celebration. Even my own family was like, "WHOA" with all the amazing costumes! But in a larger society, many different communities do not really understand the "nerdy-geeky". Sadly, to them, there are only REAL WORLD issues that can never be solved in a fantasy, fictional society. That the amount of money spent on a costume could have helped someone debilitated.
I say to that, the creative mind is our strongest weapon against society's ills. To dream a big dream is what drives up to go to the stars and change lives. Sometimes all a sick child has are his or her superheros cheering them on...
Who are we to judge what hobbies people have when it does not hurt anyone? There are fans who go to football and basketball games. Fans that attend concerts to see their favorite artists. And there are fans who like movies, such as Star Wars in particular, that want to delve deep into the Force and find another way to their life some happiness.
Whatever the reason for people's geekdom, it is still tapping into the creative mind, and when others judge that, it devalues us individually and our humanity.
There are times for most things and sometimes, being creative is not always the answer. Sometimes we do have to "grow up" and be analytical. And as a scientist with a Ph.D. in molecular genetics with published papers in cardiology, diabetes, aging, and cancer, I know the precision required to move in a thought process.
And then, there sometimes, I want to dance and express myself, gleefully on what brought me joy as a child.
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